Trade in Goods

ASEAN countries have agreed to progressively eliminate or reduce their customs duties on goods originating from Hong Kong.

Myanmar, together with Cambodia and Laos, will eliminate customs duties of about 65 percent of their tariff lines within 15 years and reduce customs duties of about another 20pc of their tariff lines within two decades.

The tariff reduction commitments made by Myanmar cover different kinds of commodities, including food, jewellery, articles of apparel and clothing accessories, watches and clocks, toys, and many more.

Hong Kong commits to granting tariff-free access to all products originating from Myanmar when the FTA takes effect.

The two parties will also strengthen cooperation in sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and customs matters.

Trade in services

Services and service providers of the two sides will enjoy national treatment — being treated equally with local service providers of the other party, subject to specified exceptions.

The two sides commit to removing or reducing various restrictions, including on types of legal entity, foreign capital participation, number of service providers or operations, value of service transactions, and number of persons employed, etc.

For example, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam allow Hong Kong enterprises to have foreign capital participation of up to 50pc or even full ownership in many sectors. However, Myanmar has not made any concession on foreign capital participation.

Hong Kong also makes commitments to AMS on a wide range of service sectors.

Business visitors and intra-corporate transferees from Myanmar and other ASEAN countries will be granted temporary entry into Hong Kong for a period not exceeding 90 days and a period limited to one year (but extendable to five years) respectively.

The FTA covers other general obligations to facilitate trade in services, including formulation of rules to ensure that domestic regulations are transparent and fair. The FTA also provides for a regular review mechanism which paves the way for future negotiations of improvements to market access commitments and further liberalisation.

Investment agreement

The Investment Agreement complements the free trade deal by providing Myanmar, Hong Kong and ASEAN investors with non-discriminatory treatment of investments in non-services sectors and protection of investments in all sectors.

Such protection includes requiring each party to provide fair and equitable treatment of investments, physical protection and security of investments and permit free transfer of investments and returns.

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/fta-between-hk-and-asean-details-myanmar.html